Protective sanitary ear cover

ABSTRACT

A protective sanitary ear cover includes a specially designed protective cover that is suitably sized and shaped to protect the ear from exposure to the harsh chemicals used to color one&#39;s hair. Each sanitary cover wraps around the outer ear for protecting both the outer and inner ear from water, shampoo and chemical solutions utilized when styling a person&#39;s hair. The cover is produced from clear light weight to medium weight material, like plastic. In the preferred embodiment the cover is annular-shaped and has an elastic band positioned about the perimeter of the opening thereof for comfortably holding the cover about a wearer&#39;s ear.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Applicant claims priority under the U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 60/994,911 Filed Sep. 24, 2007.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

This invention relates to ear covers and, more particularly, to aprotective sanitary ear cover for providing users with a convenientmeans of protecting their ears from harmful chemicals while having theirhair color treated and the like.

2. Prior Relevant Art

A number of patents exist which comprise relevant art for the proposedinvention. 2,149, 210 (Fairchild, 1939) discloses a device for neck andear protection during a beauty salon procedure. However this deviceprotects only the ears and neck of the wearer from the hot air currentsproduced by mechanical hairdryers. U.S. Pat. No. 2,159,435 (Gribbin,1939) discloses a device for protection of the ears and foreheaddesigned for preventing Burns from hairstyling devices such as curlingirons or hot combs. U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,954 discloses a forehead,temple, ear and neck protector (Lyons, 1991) designed for hightemperature protection of a user from heat during the use of curlingirons, waving irons, hot combs, blow dryers etc. U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,417(Jackson, 1997), discloses an ear protector comprised of a U-shapedretainer with first and second legs joined by a by a bight and a shieldwhich was designed for preventing damage to the ears from curling irons.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,920,912 (Patchett, 1999) discloses an ear protectivedevice designed to protect from burning by curling irons or hot rollersduring heat treatment of hair. It is comprised of an outer heatresistant material, and an inner soft material connected to the outermaterial. None of the relevant prior art discloses the subject inventionwhich is designed to protect the wearer from chemical burns during hairshampooing, coloring, or chemical treatments.

Many people, men and women alike, enjoy going to a hairdresser to havetheir hair professionally shampooed, cut, and colored. When a person'shair is being shampooed, colored or treated with various other fluidchemicals, it is common for such fluids to inadvertently enter the innerear of a person being treated. In addition to being generally annoying,individuals suffering from sores, cuts, or other ear problems, can havetheir condition exacerbated by the entry of such fluids into the ear.

Accordingly, a need, remains for a protective sanitary ear cover inorder to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present inventionsatisfies such a need by providing an apparatus that is convenient andeasy to use, is durable yet lightweight in design, is versatile in itsapplications, and provides stylists with a simple and efficient means ofprotecting their client's ears from the water, shampoos and stringentchemicals utilized to style the hair. As an easily applied protectivecovering which serves to deflect running water, as well as dripping orrunning shampoos, colorants or other processing chemicals on contact,use of the present invention prevents these agents from clogging theinner ear and causing discomfort to the customer. By sparing the clientthe hassle and awkward attempts of draining the solution from theirears, use of the apparatus ensures the users can have their hairshampooed or treated in a comfortable and safe manner. In addition toprotecting the inner ear, the cover also serves to protect the delicateskin of the outer ear by providing an effective barrier which preventsthese solutions from coming into direct contact with the ear andstaining the skin. Most importantly, by preventing chemicals fromdripping onto the client's ear, the present invention effectivelyprevents the irritation to the skin which can result.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

The novel features believed to be characteristic of this invention areset forth with particularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings in which the figures generally includevarious perspective views showing a sanitary ear cover, in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention in place on a person'sear.

FIG. 2 is a close up perspective of the invention itself.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodimentof the invention is shown. The preferred embodiment is an annular-shapedflexible material with an elastic band positioned about the perimeter ofthe opening thereof. However the cover may be round or any other shape.The body is of a flexible and foldable material so constructed as toform a pocket adapted for receiving a person's ear, said pocket havingan opening for allowing insertion of the ear through the opening, saidpocket being formed by securing flexible foldable material together. Thepreferred embodiment also includes a resilient material means securedaround the periphery of the opening for holding the periphery of theopening against the base of the ear of the individual. The means forsecuring the opening I the preferred embodiment is an elastic band.

The preferred construction is from a lightweight plastic, but waterproofcloth, waterproof paper, or any waterproof flexible material can beused.

Besides the invention apparatus itself, the use of the apparatusconstitutes a method of protecting the ears while having the hairtreated. Before washing, rinsing or otherwise applying products to thehair of an individual, the user obtains two ear covers, each comprisedof a body of flexible and foldable material so constructed as to form apocket adapted for receiving a person's ear, said pocket having anopening for allowing insertion of the ear through the opening, saidpocket being formed by securing flexible foldable material together;holding the first ear cover, the user stretches the opening so that itencompasses one of the entire outer ears of the individual and placesthe ear inside the opening; holding the second ear cover, the userstretches the opening so that it encompasses the other entire outer earof the individual and places that ear inside the opening; after both earcovers are properly positioned, the stylist applies the necessaryproducts to the individual's hair; the covers are left in place untilall desired materials are washed clean from the person's hair; thecovers are then removed from the ears and discarded.

This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms andshould not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein.Rather, this embodiment is provided so that this application will bethorough and complete, and will fully convey the true scope of theinvention to those skilled in the art.

The apparatus of this invention is referred to generally in the figuresand is intended to provide a protective sanitary ear cover. It should beunderstood that the apparatus may be used to cover a person's ear inmany different applications and should not be limited to only covering aperson's ears while getting their hair color treated.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus includes a specially designedprotective cover (3) that is suitably sized and shaped to protect theear from exposure to the harsh chemicals used to color one's hair. Eachsanitary cover wraps around the outer ear, which is essential forprotecting both the outer and inner ear from water, shampoo and chemicalsolutions utilized when styling a person's hair.

FIG. 2 shows a close up of the invention. The cover (4) is produced fromclear light weight to medium weight material, like plastic. In thepreferred embodiment the cover is annular-shaped and has an elastic band(5) positioned about the perimeter of the opening (6) thereof, which isimportant for comfortably holding the cover about a wearer's ear. Otherembodiments use circular or other polygonal shapes for the cover. Ofcourse, the cover could be produced in small, medium and large sizes tofit persons of all ages and sizes, as is obvious to a person of ordinaryskill in the art.

In use, the protective sanitary ear cover is simple and straight forwardto operate. First, before washing, rinsing or otherwise applyingproducts to the hair, the user applies the cover to either ear. Holdinga single cover in both hands, the user stretches the opening so that itencompasses their entire outer ear. After the cover is properlypositioned, the stylist can apply the necessary product to the client'shair, during which time any dripping or running water or chemicalsolution is deflected by the cover. The cover is left in place until allchemicals are washed clean from the person's hair, at which point thecover is removed from either ear and discarded in the nearest trashreceptacle.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the invention in order that the detailed description thereofthat follows may be better understood, and in order that the presentcontribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additionalfeatures of the invention that will be described hereinafter and whichwill form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

It is noted the purpose of the attached abstract is to enable the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, especially thescientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe application. The abstract is neither intended to define theinvention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is itintended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain specificembodiments, it will be appreciated that many modifications and changesmay be made by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit of the invention. It is intended, therefore, by the appendedclaims to cover all such modifications and changes as fall within thetrue spirit and scope of the invention.

In particular, with respect to the above description, it is to berealized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of thepresent invention may include variations in size, materials, shape,form, function and manner of operation. The assembly and use of thepresent invention are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilledin the art.

1. A protective sanitary ear cover for providing users with a convenientmeans of protecting their ears from harmful chemicals while having theirhair color treated and the like comprised of an annular-shaped flexiblematerial with an elastic band positioned about the perimeter of theopening thereof.
 2. A protective sanitary ear cover for providing userswith a convenient means of protecting their ears while having hairtreated comprising: a body of flexible and foldable material soconstructed as to form a pocket adapted for receiving a person's ear,said pocket having an opening for allowing insertion of the ear throughthe opening, said pocket being formed by securing flexible foldablematerial together.
 3. The ear cover in claim 2 further including aresilient material means secured around the periphery of the opening forholding the periphery of the opening against the base of the ear of theindividual.
 4. The ear cover in claim 2 wherein the resilient means forsecuring it around the periphery of the opening is an elastic band. 5.The ear cover in claim 2 wherein the cover is produced from plastic. 6.The ear cover in claim 2 wherein the cover is produced from waterproofcloth.
 7. The ear cover in claim 2 wherein the cover is produced fromwaterproofed paper.
 8. The ear cover in claim 2 wherein the cover isannular-shaped.
 9. The ear cover in claim 2 wherein the cover iscircular shaped.
 10. A method of protecting the ears while having hairtreated comprised of: before washing, rinsing or otherwise applyingproducts to the hair of an individual, the user obtains two ear covers,each comprised of a body of flexible and foldable material soconstructed as to form a pocket adapted for receiving a person's ear,said pocket having an opening for allowing insertion of the ear throughthe opening, said pocket being formed by securing flexible foldablematerial together; holding the first ear cover, the user stretches theopening so that it encompasses one of the entire outer ears of theindividual and places the ear inside the opening; holding the second earcover, the user stretches the opening so that it encompasses the otherentire outer ear of the individual and places that ear inside theopening; after both ear covers are properly positioned, the stylistapplies the necessary products to the individual's hair; the covers areleft in place until all desired materials are washed clean from theperson's hair; the covers are then removed from the ears and discarded.11. The method in claim 10 wherein the covers are comprised of anannular-shaped flexible material.
 12. The method in claim 10 furtherincluding a resilient material means secured around the periphery of thepocket opening for holding the periphery of the opening against the baseof the ear of the individual.
 13. The method in claim 10 wherein theresilient means for securing the cover around the periphery of theopening is an elastic band.
 14. The method in claim 10 wherein the earcover is applied to only one ear.
 15. The method in claim 10 wherein thecovers are produced from plastic.
 16. The method in claim 10 wherein thecovers are produced from waterproof cloth.
 17. The method in claim 10wherein the covers are produced from waterproofed paper.
 18. The methodin claim 10 wherein the covers are circular shaped.